[TowerTalk] US Tower price increase

[Don W7WLL]

And if the manufacturer is smart and hiring seasoned skilled workers, they 
are getting a decent wage, not a minimum wage. The labor is a key factor in 
cost. You can amortize the equipment but not the labor. These tower 
manufacturers are far beyond mom and pop shops.

Don T

-----Original Message----- 
From: EZ Rhino
Sent: Monday, January 02, 2017 2:56 PM
To: jimlux
Cc: Towertalk Reflector
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] US Tower price increase

Good points Jim.

I may also add that a lot of us (including myself, at times) are spoiled. 
We clickety click click on line, and two days later a product is in our 
mailbox.  We no longer realize how things are manufactured or the time, 
energy and cost associated with producing a product.

Metal fabrication isn't an inexpensive or easy business to be in.  The 
machinery needed to fabricate a tower is expensive, er, I mean, EXPENSIVE! 
and HUGE!  CNC plasma tables, press brakes, welding equipment, CNC benders, 
jigs, fixturing tables, tooling, tooling, and more tooling, and qualified 
experienced operators of this machinery, and don't forget a huge building 
that can store all this stuff.  Metal fab is a slow process, lots of labor, 
and lots of trial and error to figure out how to make something that 
functions correctly.  Then you need to figure out the most economical way to 
mass produce the product with the least labor as possible.  It's not easy.

I am not excusing the price increases at UST, as they do sound out of line. 
But I do think getting a new 50-foot crank up for $3k is a bargain!

Also watch the used market, where you can get a real deal on some used 
stuff.  I watched the classifieds like a hawk for almost a year, finally 
found a TriEx LM470 that was still horizontal, still partially crated, never 
installed, and got it for a song.

Chris
KF7P






On Jan 2, 2017, at 15:43 , jimlux wrote:

On 1/2/17 11:38 AM, Jim Brown wrote:
> Great response, Jim. BUT -- the increase noted by the original poster
> was that the increase was overnight!
>
> Several possible reasons for this. One is that business operations for
> the ham market are often supported by higher volume and higher margin
> operations for other markets. When those other markets fall apart, they
> no longer support the ham market, or contribute to economies of scale
> that allow lower prices.
>
> Another is corporate mergers, which can change business priorities,
> change where products are manufactured.
>
> But assuming corporate greed as the reason for all such price increases
> is unreasonable. It certainly can be, but there are many other reasons.
>

yes, I agree.. usually it's a "it's not economic to sell at that price any 
more, compared to other products".  I was more commenting on the "back in 
85" comment.

I know someone who is buying 50 tower trailers with 100+ ft towers on them. 
That's a much better sale proposition than onsie, twosie sales to 
individuals.  Whether through distribution or not, the support costs tend to 
be "per customer" not "per tower".

As for the overnight x3... That's a "we don't really want to be in this 
business" or "our cost structure radically changed" kind of increase.

I've also seen that when you have a business founder of a family operated 
business retires/sells out: the founder didn't have any debt service costs, 
was willing to live out whatever margin there was.  The new owner had to get 
a loan to buy the business and actually has to pay employees a wage and 
benefits - all of a sudden instead of "my wife does the assembly and we're 
on the same insurance" it's "I've got to pay a reasonable wage and provide 
vacation, insurance, etc.", I've got to pay rent and storage costs, I've got 
to pay for the "cost of money".

A similar phenomenon occurs when a partner retires/dies/leaves and the 
remaining partners have to buy them out.

Or, it's just - we don't want to leave existing customers totally in the 
lurch, but we can't subsidize them either - we'll be responsible and at 
least make parts available, but at cost that is basically "fabricate from 
scratch individually"










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